Divided We Stand
by Hamsta97
Summary: Sequel to 'Alpha Strike Team'. After Budapest nothing is the same. Half the team are in Westchester, the other in SHIELD. But SHIELD is changing and not for the better. As the agents come under attack, their friends are suffering the same fate. But will their paths cross again?
1. Westchester

**This is the long overdue sequel to 'Alpha Strike Team'! As always, read, review and enjoy!**

Ororo hurried up the stairs into the medical wing. Jean, Scott and the professor were behind the glass screen watching three men in the room on the other side. One of them was either asleep or unconscious, lying on the bed. He had black hair that was styled into two peaks and was covered in blood. He was wearing Kevlar and a shoulder holster.

"Who are they?" murmured Ororo.

The two other men were sat on one bed, their eyes flickering around the room and then returning to the unconscious man. One was huge, easily 6'7 with thick black hair and sharp blue eyes. He also had two handguns at his hips, two mid-thigh and a shotgun holstered in his back. The other man was blue with curly black hair, gold eyes and a tail. He had swords on his hips.

"They appeared on the doorway." said Jean. "The unconscious one is missing an arm. The other two took the guns off his body. I stopped the bleeding and stitched him up. They said they wanted to be alone with him."

Xavier added, "I couldn't get a read on any of them. To have such powerful mental blocks…"

Ororo frowned as the unconscious man's eyes opened. They were dark brown and shot around the room in seconds.

"You look like дерьмо." said the big man conversationally.

"Do me a favour Pete. Shut up." growled the other man.

The blue man smirked. "I guess it is true vat zey say now. You are indeed 'armless."

Pete laughed and the other man glowered at him before glancing at the glass pane.

"Двусторонний зеркало?"

"Da. We are in the X-Mansion."

Ororo stepped into the room and watched their reaction. The armless man sat up, suddenly seeming more alert and the Russian and the German were standing in front of him.

"And you are?"

The blue man was polite but Ororo could practically sense the wariness.

"My name is Ororo Munroe."

"Piotr. This is Kurt and the armless wonder is Logan."

Logan gave Piotr a brief glare but it didn't seem heartfelt. He hopped off the bed and rubbed the bandages irritably. He moved so that he was stood in the gap between Piotr and Kurt and slightly forward of both of them.

"So who's watchin' on the other side of the glass?" asked Logan.

"Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Professor Xavier." said Ororo, surprised that they'd realised the glass was two-way.

They walked into the observation room. Scott stretched his hand out to shake Logan's. The other mutant glanced at the hand but made no movement towards it. Scott flushed and dropped his hand. Ororo exchanged a glance with Jean.

"Hello Logan. I am Professor Charles Francis Xavier."

A brief spasm passed Logan's face. "Hi Charlie."

Xavier scowled and Ororo felt the temperature drop by ten degrees.

"Logan, you may call Professor, Charles, Professor X or just Xavier but you may not call me Charlie."

Logan shrugged. "Sure thing Chuck."

Piotr and Kurt laughed in sync. It was slightly terrifying. Xavier seemed to give up, recognising it as a battle he'd never win. Instead he instructed Ororo and Scott to give them a tour of the mansion. So off they went.

"This is the greenhouse."

Logan looked bored, searching his tattered Kevlar outfit for something. Piotr was listening intently, apparently finding it all fascinating. Kurt was playing with his tail. Logan triumphantly pulled out a cigar and then started searching for something else. Kurt let out an exasperated sigh and pulled out a lighter, lighting the cigar.

"When are you going to carry your own?"

"Why would I do that?" asked Logan, grinning. "I've got you and…"

His voice trailed off and Kurt and Piotr both stiffened. Scott didn't ask, though he very much wanted to. They moved on, showing them their rooms and providing them with clothes. The trio got dressed and re-emerged in time for dinner.

"This way." said Ororo.

Logan couldn't summon up any enthusiasm for his dinner, despite how nice it looked. His mind was turning over the day. Nick, the only father he'd ever really known, was dead. Clint, the only brother he'd ever really known, was dead. Natasha and Wanda, the closest thing to sisters he had, were dead. He'd stayed and worked at SHIELD because his family lived there, not because he firmly believed in SHIELD itself.

"So what are your powers?" asked Kitty, in awe of the muscled man sat next to her.

The giant Russian shifted uneasily in his seat. "I am called Colossus. Kurt is Nightcrawler and Logan is Wolverine."

"That didn't answer my question." pouted Kitty.

Piotr glanced at Logan who nodded. "I turn into metal. Kurt teleports and Logan heals and has six metal claws."

Kitty giggled. "He doesn't heal very well."

In her defence, she wasn't thinking clearly. Logan gave her a look that she seriously suspected could kill and said something apparently unflattering in another language. Kurt and Piotr winced and half-smirked. The three of them left their plates half-full and rose to their feet.

"We'll go to our rooms now." announced Kurt, teleporting the three of them away.

He deposited them all in Logan's room. He settled on the chair and Piotr flopped onto the bed. Logan on the other hand was currently living up to his name and pacing like a caged animal.

"So what do we do now?" asked Piotr in Hungarian.

They'd worked out a code, about three months into being SHIELD agents. Russian, German and English in front of people, in the comfort of their homes. Hungarian, Romanian and Thai on the job when they were worried people were listening in. It had been Kurt's idea and they'd drawn languages out of a hat.

"Three options." said Logan. "Go back to SHIELD missing half our family, go rogue or stay here."

A heavy silence fell over the room, broken by Kurt's tail swishing back and forth.

The teleporter offered his opinion first. "I zink ve should stay here. Ze only thing left at SHIELD for us is death. Here we could do some good."

Logan humourlessly asked, "Get rid of some of the red in our ledgers?"

Piotr's face twisted. "I agree with Kurt."

"I know. That's why we're staying. Go and… ah fuck try and get some sleep."

Logan watched his two best friends teleport out of the room and collapsed on his bed. He peeled the bandages off and stared up at the ceiling blankly. The day was finally catching up with him and it felt like his world was turning inwards. _Clint's dead._ The words buzzed round his brain like a mantra. Clint was the only other person he could speak Feral to, the only other person that understood the curse of being Feral. Clint was… Clint was everything Logan should have been to Victor. And now he was gone.

In the privacy of his room, Piotr undressed himself slowly, carefully examining his bruises. The only major injury he had was a cut where a stray bullet had hit while he'd been in the Danube. He held his yin-and-yang necklace and felt like crying. Natalia, his little sister, was dead and he'd been forced to leave her in Budapest. She was his light, the way Clint had been Logan's. And now she'd left him.

Kurt held his golden cross tightly and prayed. He couldn't find any reason for Wanda's death. None whatsoever. He pulled the small velvet box out of his uniform. It was in a special pouch, one that was supposed to hold lockpicks but since he could teleport to the other side of a door, they weren't a necessity. He opened the box and stared numbly down at its contents, gleaming away in the light. He was going to ask her after the mission. In front of the other four, he was going to get down on one knee and ask. He'd imagined it a thousand different ways and then he'd picked the moment. And now he'd never be able to ask her, never see her face light up and never hear her answer.


	2. The Balcony

**OK, the last chapter was a bit angsty and this one's going to be as well. But the rest should lighten up! One chapter is going to be in Westchester, the next in SHIELD, X-Men, Avengers, X-Men, Avengers etc. ENJOY!**

Clint watched blankly as Logan's arm was cremated. He could Logan swearing in the back of his mind, calling it ridiculous. And a small part of Clint agreed. The other part was ignoring that part and holding Natasha's hand. At least they had something of Logan to burn. When it was finished Fury turned to leave.

"Did you sort through their personal effects Clint?"

Clint nodded. "Yeah. It's all been divided up according to their wills."

Apart from various small bequests, everything Logan owned went to Clint, everything Piotr owned went to Natasha and everything Kurt owned went to Wanda.

"Good." said the director, sounding tired all of a sudden. "We need to speak to the Secretary. That means you Clint, as the current head of Alpha Strike."

Clint didn't argue, giving Natasha a quick kiss goodbye and following the director. Natasha watched him go and she and Wanda promptly drove to Clint's New York apartment. Once there they pulled out a couple of beers, sat on the balcony and drank.

"This… sucks." said Wanda.

"Yep."

Natasha couldn't conjure up any more emotion other than emptiness. They were incomplete now and always would be until the day they died. So the two women sat and drank in silence for two hours until they heard the front door bang open.

"Nat? Wanda?" called a familiar voice.

"Balcony!" replied Natasha, her hand still on her gun.

Clint appeared, his eyes yellow. It had been three years since Clint had lost control but Natasha could see it creeping up on him.

"What happened between you and the Secretary?" asked Wanda.

"That little," here Clint muttered a word so low neither Wanda nor Natasha caught it though it was probably unflattering, "has decided that it was a rogue Hungarian terrorist group. Not HYDRA."

Natasha frowned. "Did you tell him about the markings on their uniforms and the fact that they yelled 'Hail HYDRA'?"

Clint nodded viciously. "Yes. And he said they were trying to confuse us and how could _I_ know what they said because I'm deaf."

He then launched into a blistering Feral rant that, if past experience with Clint's insults was anything to go by, seemed to be suggesting that Secretary Pierce could go do something anatomically impossible to himself. Natasha and Wanda ignored him.

"Well that can only mean one thing." said Natasha. "There's a leak in SHIELD that links to HYDRA."

"Right. Or HYDRA's got something over him." Wanda pointed out.

Clint chimed in, "Maybe it's that they know that he's a piece of shit-eating horse's ass-faced jerk."

"I highly doubt it's that." replied Natasha. "Or he's the leak in SHIELD."

They sat in silence, weighing the idea in their minds. Clint could easily believe it but then he and Pierce had always had an antagonistic relationship.

"So what do we do?" asked Wanda, her eyes landing on Clint.

The archer ran a hand through his hair and lit up a cigarette. He thought quickly and took a quick drag of the cigarette.

"We pretend we believe him. We play along until we get the chance to a) confront him, b) prove it one way or the other or c) kill him."

Natasha nodded. "I can do that."

"Me too."

Clint gave them a brief smirk. "Good. I'm gonna climb up to the roof."

Neither of them stopped him as he went. Wanda headed to her room and Natasha stayed on the balcony. She was liking the idea of killing Pierce more and more.


	3. Danger Room

Logan woke up with a jolt. The memories of freezing needles were still buzzing around his brain. He blinked a few times, trying to get his bearings. When he heard a scrape in the lock, everything else vanished and Logan focussed on whoever was trying to get his room. He positioned himself behind the door, Colt in hand. The door pushed open and Logan moved, grabbing the intruder's wrist and spinning them round, pinning them to the wall.

"Logan!" cried Ororo in shock and no small amount of pain.

The mutant had pinned her to the wall with his body and was pointing a very large handgun at her head. She took several deep breaths, remembering Logan's extreme senses. If he smelled fear, he'd react. His eyes were currently hazel, not dark brown. When the three had arrived Logan had told them that if his eyes were hazel _leave me the fuck alone and let Elf and Tin Man deal with me. _

"Logan," repeated Ororo, making sure she was speaking calmly and clearly, "it's me. Ororo. Storm."

The flecks of green and amber in his eyes slowly faded and Logan stepped away from her. He turned his back on her, dropped the gun on the bed and headed over to the wardrobe, pulling a T-shirt out.

"Sorry." he said suddenly.

Ororo blinked. She hadn't expected him to apologise.

"Why did you do that?" she asked.

Logan's head popped out of the T-shirt, his hair a mess. He strapped his shoulder holster on and began fixing his hair.

"Because ya startled me. I don't like it when people come into my room uninvited. Apart from Kurt and Piotr obviously."

"Obviously." echoed Ororo, eying the gun. "Why do you carry weapons in a school? We are not about to be attacked and even if we are, you appear to be more than capable of defending yourself without a weapon."

Logan's gaze stayed trained on her as he put the gun and another obscenely large one into his holster. He struggled a bit with his left side, considering he only had a stump there.

"I don't like being weaponless. It makes me feel naked."

"You have your natural weapons." said Ororo.

Logan gave her a ghost of a smile. "I have half my natural weapons and until the rest of my arm grows back, I'm stuck."

In the three months the three men had been there, Logan had regained an upper arm though it ended just above the elbow joint. He headed after Ororo and locked his door. They headed downstairs in silence to be greeted by Kurt and Piotr who were leaning on the banister rails at the ground.

"Whose bed did you crawl out of?" asked Piotr, grinning.

It was a phrase he'd picked up from Clint. Whenever Logan had turned up to a meeting/meal with messy hair the younger mutant's face would curve into a knowing smirk and he'd ask the question. The worst part was that whenever he'd asked, Logan had crawled out of someone's bed.

"Yours." replied Logan, returning the grin.

Piotr rolled his eyes. "Not my type."

Kurt snorted and followed them off to the kitchen. Ororo headed after them, smiling slightly as Piotr and Logan got into an argument based on Logan's appeal to every sex. Kurt was chipping in with comments and occasional marks out of ten. They entered the kitchen. Scott was already there, with Hank.

"Hank!" cried Ororo in delight. "I thought you were still in Washington!"

Hank beamed. "I had some holiday so I decided to take it."

"Who's the furball?" asked Logan, earning a smirk from Piotr.

Hank straightened his back. "I am Hank McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs."

Logan waved his hand. "Right. The secretary. Nice suit."

Charles, who had just wheeled himself in, interrupted. "Hank, this is Logan. He's ah…"

Hank nodded. "The Wolverine. I hear you're quite the animal."

Logan smirked. "Look who's talking."

Once again the professor intervened. "Why don't we all go down to the Danger Room? Logan, are you going?"

"Yeah."

They headed down to the Danger Room with Logan, Piotr and Kurt quietly murmuring in another language. They had a tendency to do that, Charles had noticed. He suspected that it wasn't because they were deliberately excluding everyone else but because by now it was second nature to them. They arrived at the Danger Room. Everyone else dressed in X-Men suits apart from Logan, Piotr and Kurt who stayed in their street clothes. Charles went to set the controls.

"Alright team!" said Scott, rubbing his hands. "Let's do this!"

Bobby saluted. "Yes sir!"

The simulation was a team of giant robots in an abandoned town. Scott turned to face the group.

"Alright, there's three robots and twelve of us. We're going to split into three groups of four. Team One, myself, Bobby, Rogue, and Jean. Team Two, Ororo, Kitty, Jubilee and Rahne. Team Three, Hank, Logan, Piotr and Kurt. Let's go!"

Logan, Kurt and Piotr looked at each other and around them. They'd been given the robot in the middle.

"Ya thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" said Logan with a grin.

Piotr responded by grabbing the neck and waist of his clothes, spinning him round and throwing him. Hank sprang forward.

"This mission is about teamwork!"

Piotr steadied himself, looking round. "We worked as a team. Didn't we Kurt?"

Kurt nodded. Then a giant robot head fell to the ground in front of them, closely followed by Logan who landed on his feet.

"I zink you killed it." Kurt pointed out.

"Ya think?" asked Logan. "Hey Ruskie. Make sure."

Piotr nodded, turned to steel, grabbed the head and crumpled it between his fists.

"OK, now it's dead." conceded Logan.

Hank looked furious but just then the simulation ended. Ororo, who'd seen what had happened stormed over.

"What the hell was that?!" she spat.

Logan tilted his head on one side. "Winning."

"This was supposed to be a defensive teamwork exercise!"

"Best defence is a good offence. Or is it the other way round?"

Kurt laughed and they left. Ororo glared at them but said nothing. Hank caught her and she dropped back.

"Do you trust them?" asked Hank quietly.

Ororo frowned. "I don't know. Sometimes they are hostile and violent. Other times they are kind and polite. I don't know what to make of them."

"I could do some digging if you like."

"Please."


End file.
